Happiness Is Music

———-

Success, energy and love, lots of love: here's what we thought of Gwen Stefani's concert at the Summer Festival

Cédric Bélanger July 17, 2026

It was freezing in Quebec City on Thursday night... until the sparkling Gwen Stefani showed up on the plains of Abraham with her successes - as well as those of No Doubt - her communicative energy and all her love.

She didn't deny with the puck, the irresistible Gwen. With a completely forgivable five-minute delay, the Californian blonde, who wore a bright yellow and black outfit, dynamically burst on stage amid her dancers and musicians by attacking The Sweet Escape, the first bomb of the evening.

Suddenly, despite the wind that sometimes scattered the sound, the missing degrees Celsius bothered us much less.

Visibly in a splendid form at 56, she immediately immersed herself in the ska-pop repertoire of No Doubt with Sunday Morning for a refreshing first return to the 1990s.

Nostalgia? No problem with that, she assured us without ever losing her smile. "Tonight is the big night, okay? It brings back a lot of memories. I have a lot of love to give you, "said the one who performed for the first time at the Summer Festival.

Lucky spectators

She offered this love in particular to two spectators who had made posters for her and whom she invited to go on stage to give her a hug. The first boy to execute almost fainted in front of his idol. It was touching.

After a first part mainly devoted to his more "minor" successes such as Cool and Underneath It All, the concert moved second gear when the energizing Hella Good made the Plains jump.

Stefani, after a short break to go put on a bright pink outfit, then chained heavy. She yoded Wind It Up to us before explaining to us everything she could afford if she were a Rich Girl - which she obviously is, which makes the conditional of the title somewhat obsolete.

• Also listen to this podcast episode from Alexandre Dubé's show, broadcast on QUB platforms and simultaneously on 99.5 FM Montreal:

"A beautiful city"

Rich or not, Gwen Stefani still felt a lot of love that she wanted to share. "I'm not kidding. I love you, you deep down. I love you, you up there, and you in no matter this funny VIP space. This city is so beautiful. You are very lucky to live there. It's a beautiful city. Thank you for sharing it with me today. ”

Then came the final sprint, launched with panache by the electro-pop What You Waiting For, before the great ballad Don't Speak resonated on more than fulfilled Plains.

All that remained was to complete the "Girl" trilogy with the very, highly anticipated Just a Girl and Hollaback Girl and we left with the hope that the final goodbye would not be a farewell.

Saw Gwen’s reply on IG to Blake’s post. 💕